[MICHAELSD]

It's odd that Apple Music sounds better than Tidal lossless over Bluetooth (if anything there shouldn't be a difference or Tidal should sound slightly better). Maybe it's because it's less compression work to do, or these headphones secretly added AAC support in a firmware update...

I've heard that even with an iPhone that these sound better than the Bose QC35 and the MDR-1000x. I came away impressed with both headphones when I tested them but am also growing to like the Momentum a lot.

 

[MICHAELSD]

"Thank you for contacting Sennheiser Technical Support.

Yes, the Momentum 2/ HD1 headphones support the AAC codec natively."

:blink:

I guess I'll try confirming by trying to force them to use AAC on my Mac.

 

[MICHAELSD]

When I confirmed they were talking about the over-ear:

"Yes, all Momentum 2/ HD1 headphones support the AAC codec."

 

[MICHAELSD]

I wasn't able to get my Mac to transmit AAC to the Momentum, which leads me to believe it's misinformation unless somebody would like to prove me otherwise.

 

[Sennheiser]

I cannot confirm off the top of my head if the Momentum 2/HD-1 over ear wireless supports AAC off the top of my head (the wireless In Ear definitely does), I'll look into it, ask the engineers.

Side note, apparently the current generation of MacBooks actually does support Apt-X output over bluetooth, so if you have that Apple model you should still get very high quality wireless.

 

[MICHAELSD]

I cannot confirm off the top of my head if the Momentum 2/HD-1 over ear wireless supports AAC off the top of my head (the wireless In Ear definitely does), I'll look into it, ask the engineers.

Side note, apparently the current generation of MacBooks actually does support Apt-X output over bluetooth, so if you have that Apple model you should still get very high quality wireless.

I appreciate the direct response.

I'd prefer to use AAC if possible since I find AAC over Bluetooth indistinguishable from listening to AAC files with a wire, though aptX is quite good. AAC support on the Momentum would make me very happy since it'd sound perfect with Apple products. Through Apple's diagnostic testing (IO tools) I believe the Momentum over-ear do support AAC but it's not usable as a codec so it should be possible to add AAC codec support through a firmware update.

Update: I've been trying for a while to force these headphones to use AAC, but they won't receive AAC on Mac no matter the config or iPhone 7. Apple Bluetooth Verification tool says that the Momentum supports AAC so I'd really appreciate if Sennheiser can run it by a few engineers to enable it. It's an issue on the headphone side, not Apple.

 

[MICHAELSD]

Tip for Momentum 2.0 Wireless owners:
 
The headphones can be listened to via USB! 
 
Plus the headphones remain charged so they're always fully-charged when you want to take them on the go

.

 

[MICHAELSD]

Compared aptX on my Mac to my iPhone, which should use AAC if it supports it, and the iPhone is definitely using SBC.

 

[MICHAELSD]

deleted

 

[MICHAELSD]

Deleted

 

[MICHAELSD]

For reference, however note that it absolutely will not connect to AAC on a Mac, and it's not using it on iPhone either based on listening tests. Sennheiser doesn't even list AAC as a codec for the M2. Let's fix this as it could support it with some help on Sennheiser's end 

.

 

[MICHAELSD]

Although I must say sound quality is absolutely fantastic via USB using Apple Music. It's one of the killer bonus features of this headphone. AAC Bluetooth support would just about match the experience.
 
Edit:
 
Natural Sennheiser mids, open soundstage, wonderfully impactful bass, and a detailed, veiled treble. Bluetooth needs to catch up because these headphones are a joy wired. (Not that they're at all bad wirelessly, but listening purely through USB brings out the best in these headphones.)

 

[nuxos]

Does anynone have pictures of the brown model? (wired or BT doesn't matter)
 
I am going to buy a wired M2 (Apple remote) and hesitate between the black or the brown model
 
Thanks !

 

[ruthieandjohn]

Here is a picture of the earpiece of my ivory and brown model (I was asking about the symbol on it, which turns out to be an NFC sensor).

 

[thomaskyhn]

Question about background hiss moved to a separate thread here. Hope that's OK.